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Post by bowdonkey on May 30, 2015 1:58:34 GMT
I got thinking the other day, rhubarb roots go way deep. Why wouldn't this make a good tea for the garden. Most folks say comfrey is the ticket. Why is that? Rhubarb has a ton of good things in it. So instead of just grass clippings fermented in water I'll be also adding rhubarb this year. I've been adding a ice cream pail of tea to a 2 gallon sprinkler can of rainwater and watering the garden for the last couple years. It seems to really work compared to straight water. Anyway this is another experiment in the garden this summer.
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Post by Skandi on May 31, 2015 9:44:05 GMT
Probably becasue most of us want to eat our rhubarb not fertilise with it  I'm using nettles this year, I have comfry as well, but it at least looks nice, so the nettles are going into tea. |
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Post by bowdonkey on May 31, 2015 13:30:22 GMT
Actually the tea formula that was given to me was made up of nettles, grass clippings and willow brush. It is fantastic. But being lazy and alI, Ive substituted a couple asprin for willow and a magnesium tablet for the nettle. The guy who gave me the formula brews barrels full. It's ready when it smells worse than a sewer. He grows incredible vegetables, all heirlooms. I have tons of rhubarb, more than 10 familys could eat. Rather than let it get to old and stringy I thought I might run a batch through the mower while cutting grass and use it in plant tea.
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Post by Skandi on Jun 1, 2015 13:31:52 GMT
Hmm I have plenty of nettles, grass and willow.. maybe I should try a mix!
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Post by 1shotwade on Jun 1, 2015 14:25:59 GMT
I just wanted to add a couple things.I just watched a video that said if your tea starts stinking it is because there is not enough oxygen in it and you should use a bubblier like in an aquarium. Also,nettles are supposed to be great as greens.I've not tried them for 30 years and have forgotten what they taste like but they are quite popular.
Wade
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Post by Skandi on Jun 2, 2015 10:10:32 GMT
Nettles are fine to eat. but there is a limit to how many you can manage! Lying in bed last night I had a thought on the Rhubarb. Rhubarb leaves are not good to eat because they contain so much oxalic acid. would that acid be broken down in the tea, or would you end up acidifying whatever you pour it onto?
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Post by bowdonkey on Jun 2, 2015 10:25:53 GMT
I just wanted to add a couple things.I just watis phed a video that successfulyour tea starts stinking it is because there is not enough oxygen in it and you should use a bubblier like in an aquarium. Also,nettles are supposed to be great as greens.I've not tried them for 30 years and have forgotten what they taste like but they are quite popular. Wade I've read this same thing, too much of the wrong bacteria. But the guy that showed me this is probably the most successful organic gardener in the area. His yields are incredible. He grows around a hundred different heirloom tomatoes just for fun! Plus all the other stuff. I don't brew mine to the sewer level, but it gets a bit high at times. I just toss a big armload of grass clippings in a sawed off 55 gal plastic drum of rainwater. I use an old canoe paddle to stir It a couple times per day. After the water gets some color to it, it's ready. I pitchfork the grass off the top so the watering can doesn't clog too much. I have the barrel set up in a raspberry row and use the grass forked off the top as mulch for them. |
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Post by 1shotwade on Jun 2, 2015 15:03:10 GMT
I think it boils down to doing "anything" is better to doing nothing!As much as we all enjoy gardening we are all still learning and will be 'till we die.There's a lot of people out there that don't even know fulling why they are as successful and we are like that also to a degree.
Personally I am starting the process of using fish,and fish scraps in compost.(This should smell good!).It,s doing something even if it is wrong!LOL!
Wade
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Post by 1shotwade on Jun 2, 2015 15:09:37 GMT
Nettles are fine to eat. but there is a limit to how many you can manage! Lying in bed last night I had a thought on the Rhubarb. Rhubarb leaves are not good to eat because they contain so much oxalic acid. would that acid be broken down in the tea, or would you end up acidifying whatever you pour it onto? I don't have the time to play with PH levels so don't know a lot about it but I believe it takes a whole lot more than we think to change PH levels in your garden to the point that you are hurting instead of helping. You know they say sassafras tea will give you cancer? Well,they are probably right. That is if you drink 20 gallon of every day for 20 years! Makes sense to me! But if you're like the rest of us consuming maybe an average oof 1-2 gallon a year,I'll not worry about the cancer. Wade |
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I'm using nettles this year, I have comfry as well, but it at least looks nice, so the nettles are going into tea.